Wizards put home win streak on line vs. Kings

(Sports Network) - The Washington Wizards will be in search of a sixth
consecutive home victory Monday night when they welcome the Sacramento Kings
to the nation's capital.

The Wiz haven't lost at home since a Jan. 4 setback to the Brooklyn Nets.
During that time, Washington has beaten the reigning Western Conference
champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic and, over the
weekend, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls.

The Wizards are playing great at both ends during this win streak. They
average 102.8 points per game, while their opponents average 89.4 ppg. They
are shooting 49 percent from the field and their opponents a meager 41
percent.

Against the Bulls on Saturday, they held Chicago to just 73 points on 40
percent shooting.

"Our whole group of guys who played, I couldn't be any more proud of these
guys," said coach Randy Wittman. "These guys, defensively tonight, were in
tune and that's what won the game."

In their last 10 overall, the Wizards are 7-3 and 6-3 since the return of John
Wall from injury. He is averaging 14.1 points, 6.7 assists and 2.4 rebounds
per game.

The Kings come to Washington losers of four straight. This is the second of a
six-game road trip and the sojourn didn't start off well. The Kings fell in
Denver to the Nuggets, 121-93.

Against Denver, the Kings had 20 assists and 20 turnovers, which are
horrendous statistics comparatively.

"We're probably over 100 turnovers in the last five or six games for sure,"
said Kings head coach Keith Smart. "Probably have to simplify things for our
guys. We'll correct. We have some games where we can get ourselves back on
track on this trip."

Aaron Brooks led the way for the Kings with 16 points off the bench. Tyreke
Evans had 15, but the Nuggets absolutely shut down DeMarcus Cousins, the
Kings' leading scorer and rebounder. Cousins finished with three points and
two rebounds.

In Cousins' defense, he only played just under 22 minutes. No starter played
more than 23 minutes and that occurred because the Kings trailed by 32 after
third quarter.

The Kings won this season's earlier meeting with Washington, a 95-94 victory
on Jan. 16 in Sacramento. The Kings won last season in Washington, but have
lost seven of their last nine in D.C.